California
Tribe Sues Over Stalled Compact
As reported by the San Diego
Union Tribune: "Frustrated by lawmakers'
refusal to act on its new gambling agreement,
an Imperial County Indian tribe has filed a
federal lawsuit that could establish a legal
path around the Legislature for other tribes
in similar situations.
"The
Quechan tribe will ask a federal court to send
it and the state to a mediator, where both would
submit their last best offers for a new compact.
Under federal law, the mediator would have to
choose one of the two.
"The
last best offer of both Quechan and the state
is the compact that the Legislature, at the
behest of other big gaming tribes, has refused
to consider.
"'The
governor negotiated a compact that he is satisfied
with,' said Larry Stidham, a Ramona attorney
who represents Quechan. 'The tribe is satisfied
with that. The governor submits the compact
to the court, the deal is done. That takes the
Legislature out of the process.'
"…A
spokesman for the governor said the administration
was reviewing the lawsuit…"
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